70,000 years ago we were getting something right in relation to learning and responding to circumstances and left Africa.
We have been learning in communities ever since.
Perhaps population pressures or stability permitted reading and our inexorable desire to innovate led to the printing press and more since besides. Meanwhile populations and civilizations grew and society required or permitted the development of formal learning.
For me all the learning theories are observations of human behaviour as individuals or in groups.
Open learning is if anything taking us back to learning on the fly, in more vibrant less formal communities online. A response to the necessity of educating 7 billion and solving many of the human created problems on this dot in space called Earth.
I rather think the theories come AFTER the event to philosophise over what is taking place - in a commercial and entrepreneurial world you get on with it.
Take virtual worlds - they are commercial gaming and entertainment environments which educators would like to use and as they use them explain, position and justify.
- All I want to know is, does it work?
- Is it affordable?
- Is it scaleable?
- Is it going anywhere?
- If not ditch it snd try something else.